Saturday, June 21, 2014

Afghanistan Postpones Announcement of Election Results

Chairman of Afghan
Election Commission Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani said today the partial results of
the second round of presidential election would not be announced today as
previously scheduled; adding the postponement will take “a few days.”

The preliminary
results were expected to show Ashraf Ghani well ahead of Abdullah Abdullah to
become the next Afghan president. On Wednesday, Abdullah, expecting a Ghani
victory announcement, demanded the election commission stop counting ballots
and withdrew his election observers from the process.

Postponing the
announcement of the results of the election indicates the seriousness of the
situation developing in Afghanistan. If Abdullah refuses to accept the results
at this very late stage, the country’s fragile political system could split
along ethnic lines with catastrophic consequences for Afghanistan and the
region, which already is besieged with ethnic fighting.

Abdullah complaint
is that his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, and President Karzai orchestrated a huge
fraud to block his election as the first Tajik president, a charge Karzai and
Ghani have denied. Ghani on Friday called on Abdullah to respect the electoral
system they participated in and ask the election commission to investigate
irregularities after the results are announced.

File photo: Ashraf
Ghani, expected to have been announced the preliminary winner of the
presidential election. The election commission on Saturday postponed the
announcement. (Photo taken at 2014 Davos – tasvirafghanistan.com)

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